This invention relates to electrical switching apparatus which is operated between ON and OFF conditions by inserting or removing a pullout member to or from stationary contact structure of a switch base. The pullout member has conductive blades which engage the stationary contacts to respectively bridge aligned pairs of such stationary contacts, thereby completing a circuit from an electrical source to a load. Switches of this type may incorporate fuses to provide overcurrent protection to apparatus connected to the disconnect switch.
Disconnect switches of the aforedescribed pullout type are well known. It is also well known to provide an inner cover or shield over the electrically live parts so that when the enclosure cover is opened, only the handle of the pullout member is accessible, and electrically live parts are covered by the shield. The shield has been a fiberboard insulator, a formed metal cover, or, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,963 issued Jul. 25, 1989 to G. A. Miller et al and reissued Oct. 27, 1992 as Re. 34,113, the inner cover is a molded insulating shield. The upper end of this molded insulating shield engages formations on the switch base assembly, permitting the lower end of the shield to be pivoted downward into position within the metal case and secured in that position by a threaded fastener extending through a hole in the insulating shield and threading into an opening in a right-angle metal tab of the enclosure. In each of these switches the shield may be either completely removed or displaced to a position permitting access to the live parts of the switch while the switch pullout remains inserted in the switch ON position.